One of the great blessings of historical study of the liturgy is discovering texts created to celebrate feasts and seasons of the Church year. For example, examining the epistolary and the evangeliary found in the W\u00fcrzburg Lectionary as well as readings found in the Murbach Lectionary, we can attempt to reconstruct how the early Roman Rite might have celebrated a five or six week Advent with readings not only drawn up proper to the season (on Sundays) but intermingled with those of the Ember Days of December. Similarly, examining the Verona collection of libelli missarum (also known as the \u201cLeonine Sacramentary\u201d) and the Old Gelasian Sacramentary we can discover proper presidential prayers for the season.<\/p>\n
I would like to offer some texts that parallel those of the Roman Rite for Advent, but which are proper to the archdiocese of Milan with its surrounding suffragan churches. Unlike the Roman Rite, the Ambrosian Rite celebrates six Sundays of Advent (beginning with the Sunday after St. Martin\u2019s Day) with proper epistle and gospel readings. These six Sundays were marked by seven Prefaces altogether: one for each of the first five, with two assigned to the Sixth Sunday of Advent.<\/p>\n
The structure of an Ambrosian Preface parallels that of the Roman Rite: after the opening dialogue (\u201cThe Lord be with you.\u201d \u201cAnd with your spirit.\u201d \u201cHearts up!\u201d \u201cWe have them to the Lord.\u201d \u201cLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\u201d \u201cIt is right and just.\u201d) the Preface proper began with the protocol, a fairly stereotyped introduction expanding upon the declaration that it is proper to give God thanks and praise. Here is a fairly typical example (note that my translations do not aim at elegance, but try to convey in language as close to the original as possible what the text is saying):<\/p>\n
Vere quia dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere: Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus:<\/p>\n
It is truly right and just, proper and salutary, for us always and everywhere to give thanks to you: Lord, holy Father, almighty eternal God:<\/p>\n
The body of the Preface follows, listing the particular reasons for thanking and praising God at the given celebration; exploring these texts can help us determine a theology of Advent peculiar to this rite.<\/p>\n
The Preface concludes with an eschatocol, a fairly stereotyped transition to the singing of the Sanctus by connecting the worship of the assembled congregation to the heavenly worship of the angels and saints. Here is an example of a fairly typical example:<\/p>\n
Per quem maiestatem tuam laudant Angeli, venerantur Archangeli, Throni, Dominationes, Virtutes, Principates, et Potestates adorant. Quem Cherubim et Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti iubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes:<\/p>\n
Through whom the Angels praise, the Archangels venerate, the Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Principalities, and Powers adore your majesty, which the Cherubim and the Seraphim with united exultation celebrate together. With them, we pray, that you would grant that our voices be admitted, crying out with suppliant profession:<\/p>\n
Singing the \u201cHoly, Holy, Holy\u201d concludes this segment of the Eucharistic Prayer.<\/p>\n
I will now present the bodies of these seven Advent Prefaces with a few comments on the distinctive character of Advent revealed in these texts.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 1:<\/p>\n
Cui proprium ac singul\u00e1re est, quod bonus es, et nulla umquam a te es commutati\u00f3ne diversus. Propiti\u00e1re suppl\u00edcibus, et Ecclesiae tuae misericordiam, quam confit\u00e9tur, ostende, manifestans plebi tuae Unig\u00e9niti tui mir\u00e1bile sacramentum. Ut in universit\u00e1te nati\u00f3num perfici\u00e1tur, quod per Verbi tui Evangelium promisisti: et h\u00e1beat plenit\u00fado adopti\u00f3nis, quod pr\u00e1etulit testificatio verit\u00e1tis. Per eundum.<\/p>\n
To whom (i.e., God) it is proper and unique that you are good and you are never changeable in any way. Be pleased with\/placated by your suppliants and show to your Church the mercy that she professes, manifesting to your people the wondrous sign-and-reality of your Only-Begotten, so that what you promised through the Good News of your Word may be brought to completion in the totality of the nations and the fullness of adoption may have the testimony of the truth which He brought forth. Through the same [Christ].<\/p>\n
In addition to making dogmatic statements about God\u2019s goodness and immutability, this text highlights the Church\u2019s role in proclaiming to all humanity God\u2019s mercy by means of the \u201cwondrous sacrament\u201d of Christ. Given how wide-ranging the understanding of sacrament was at the time these texts were created, it is possible that the \u201cwondrous sign-and-reality\u201d is the coming of the Incarnate Christ, celebrated in the season of Advent. The text then asks that what was promised by the preaching of Christ may be fulfilled as all peoples come to believe the truth of his proclamation.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 2:<\/p>\n
Per Christum, D\u00f3minum nostrum. Cuius Incarnati\u00f3ne salus facta est mundi, et passi\u00f3ne redemptio procur\u00e1ta est h\u00f3minis procre\u00e1ti. Ipse nos, qu\u00e1esumus, ad aeternum perd\u00facat praemium, qui red\u00e9mit de t\u00e9nebris infern\u00f3rum: iustificetque in adventu secundo, qui nos red\u00e9mit in primo: qu\u00e1tenus ill\u00edus nos a malis \u00f3mnibus defendat subl\u00edmitas, cuius nos ad vitam erexit hum\u00edlitas. Per quem.<\/p>\n
Through Christ, our Lord. By whose enfleshment the salvation of the world was brought about, and by whose suffering the redemption of procreated human beings was procured. May he himself, we pray, who redeemed us from the shadows of the infernal regions, lead us through to eternal reward; and may he justify in his second coming we whom he redeemed in the first, so that his sublimity might defend us from all evils, whose humility has raised us up to life. Through whom.<\/p>\n
This text more clearly reflects the character of Advent as a season pitched between expectation and desire. It declares that Christ has already brought about the salvation of the world by his incarnation and redeemed those \u201cprocreated\u201d by God (rather than begotten, as in the case of the Christ) through his passion. It then prays that, in the present, the Redeemer might lead us from hell to heaven. Finally it looks to the future, asking that his coming in triumph at the time of the Parousia would reveal his exalted status as he justifies and defends those he has redeemed and raised up to life. It clearly announces the Christ who has come in history, is coming in mystery, and will come in majesty.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 3:<\/p>\n
Per Christum, D\u00f3minum nostrum: cuius praestol\u00e1mur adventum. Qui causa sal\u00fatis hum\u00e1nae, sic est dign\u00e1tus \u00faterum V\u00edrginis intro\u00edre, ut et nobis viam sal\u00fatis trib\u00faeret, et a tuae maiest\u00e1te Deit\u00e1tis numquam deesset, idem Iesus Christus, D\u00f3minus noster. Quem una tecum, omn\u00edpotens Pater, et cum Sp\u00edritu Sancto laudant Angeli…<\/p>\n
Through Christ, our Lord: whose coming we await. Who for the sake of human salvation so deigned to enter into the Virgin\u2019s womb, that he might both grant to us the way of salvation and also might never be separated from the majesty of your Godhead, the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom, one with you, almighty Father and with the Holy Spirit, the Angels praise\u2026.<\/p>\n
This text declares that, as we await the second coming of Christ, we reflect on the amazing mystery of the enfleshment of the Son of God who, on the one hand, entered human history by being incarnated in Mary\u2019s womb while, on the other, remained ever united with the other Divine Persons of the Triune God. Most beautifully it highlights how Christ manifests the way to salvation by becoming one with us.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 4:<\/p>\n
Cui proprium est veniam delictis imp\u00e9ndere, quam poen\u00e1liter immin\u00e9re. Qui f\u00e1bricam tui \u00f3peris per eundem rursus l\u00e1pidem es dign\u00e1tus er\u00edgere, ne im\u00e1go, quae ad similit\u00fadinem tui facta f\u00faerat vivens, diss\u00edmilis haber\u00e9tur ex morte. Munus veni\u00e1bilis indulgentiae praestitisti: ut unde mortem pecc\u00e1tum contr\u00e1xeret, inde vitam p\u00edetas repar\u00e1ret immensa. Per Christum.<\/p>\n
To whom (i.e., God) it is proper to lavish mercy on misdeeds more that to threaten retribution. Who deigned to erect the structure of your work through that self-same stone, lest the living image which had been made a likeness to you, should become unlike you through death. You have set before us the gift of merciful forgiveness: so that from where sin had brought death, now your boundless kindness might restore life. Through Christ.<\/p>\n
This text highlights the penitential quality of earlier celebrations of Advent. God\u2019s mercy for the sinful is acknowledged as one of the defining elements of God\u2019s character. The following \u201cqui\u201d clause in a rather convoluted way recalls the role of Christ as keystone of the arch of God\u2019s new temple, built of the \u201cliving stones\u201d of the faithful. This biblical image is meshed with the recollection from the Yahwist creation account in Genesis that Adam (and thus his progeny) is brought to life through the ruah YHWH (\u201cbreath of God\u201d) being breathed into his lifeless clay-shaped body; he thus becomes the \u201cimage and likeness\u201d of God precisely in his quality of living.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 5:<\/p>\n
Per Christum, D\u00f3minum nostrum. Cuius div\u00ednae nativit\u00e1tis potentiam ing\u00e9nita virt\u00fatis tuae g\u00e9nuit magnit\u00fado. Quem semper Filium et ante t\u00e9mpora aeterna gener\u00e1tum, quia tibi pleno atque perfecto aeterni Patris nomen non d\u00e9fuit, praedic\u00e1mus. Verum etiam hon\u00f3re, maiest\u00e1te, atque virt\u00fate aequ\u00e1lem tibi cum Sancto Sp\u00edritu confit\u00e9mur, dum in tribus pers\u00f3nis \u00fanicam cr\u00e9dimus maiest\u00e1tem. Quam laudant Angeli.<\/p>\n
Through Christ, our Lord. The power of whose divine birth the unbegotten greatness of your might begot. Whom we proclaim as ever the Son, begotten in eternity before the ages, so that for you the name of eternal Father, fully and perfectly, has never been lacking. And we profess him equal to you in honor, majesty and power with the Holy Spirit, since we believe a single majesty [exists] in three persons. Which the Angels praise.<\/p>\n
The two great mysteries of Christian belief \u2013 the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Triunity of God \u2013 are brought together in this dense text. While it is true that Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary at a point in time, he is Begotten God of Unbegotten God before time itself began. The text concludes with a powerful statement of the equality of the ascriptions of praise the Church offers the Three Divine Persons.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 6: Mass of Advent<\/p>\n
… et salut\u00e1re: nos be\u00e1tae semperque V\u00edrginis Mar\u00edae solemnia celebr\u00e1re. Quae parvo \u00fatero D\u00f3minum caeli port\u00e1vit, et Angelo praenunciante, Verbum carne mort\u00e1li \u00e9didit Salvat\u00f3rem. Quem castis conc\u00e9pit visc\u00e9ribus, clausa ingrediens et clausa relinquens. Quem una tecum\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and salutary: for us to celebrate the solemnities of the blessed and ever-Virgin Mary. Who in her small womb carried the Lord of heaven and, with an Angel foretelling it, brought forth the Word in mortal flesh, the Savior whom she conceived in her innermost organs, closed as he entered and closed as he left. Whom, one with you\u2026.<\/p>\n
One of the peculiarities of the Ambrosian Rite is that some great feasts have two sets of readings and presidential prayers since they might be celebrated in a different way in the two cathedrals on opposite sides of the Piazza del Duomo prior to the 14th C. The prefaces for the Sixth Sunday of Advent seem to illustrate this since the Mass at St. Thecla (the \u201csummer church\u201d), celebrated with violet vestments and incorporating the proclamation of the Gospel of the Visitation in the Liturgy of the Word, is called the \u201cMass of Advent,\u201d while the \u201cMass of the Incarnation\u201d was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Mary (the \u201cwinter church\u201d) with white vestments and the proclamation of the Gospel of the Annunciation.<\/p>\n
Thus one can see that, while the preface text of the \u201cMass of Advent\u201d makes a reference to the Annuciation, the focus is on the enfleshment of the Son of God, marveling that what heaven and earth cannot contain is contained in Mary\u2019s womb and articulating an understanding of her perpetual virginity.<\/p>\n
Advent Sunday 6: Mass of the Incarnation<\/p>\n
… et salut\u00e1re: nos tibi D\u00f3mine, Deus omn\u00edpotens, gratias \u00e1gere, et cum tuae invocati\u00f3ne virt\u00fatis, be\u00e1tae Mar\u00edae V\u00edrginis festa celebr\u00e1re. De cuius ventre fructus effl\u00f3ruit, qui panis ang\u00e9lici m\u00fanere nos repl\u00e9vit. Quod Eva vor\u00e1vit in cr\u00edmine, Mar\u00eda rest\u00edtuit in sal\u00fate. Distat opus Serpentis et V\u00edrginis; inde fusa sunt ven\u00e9na discr\u00edminis, hinc egressa mysteria Salvat\u00f3ris. Inde se pr\u00e1ebuit tentantis in\u00edquitas, hinc Redempt\u00f3ris est opitul\u00e1ta maiestas. Inde partus occ\u00fabuit, hic C\u00f3nditor resurrexit, a quo hum\u00e1na nat\u00fara, non iam capt\u00edva, sed l\u00edbera restit\u00faitur. Quod Adam p\u00e9rdidit in parente, Christo rec\u00e9pit auct\u00f3re. Quem una tecum\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026and salutary: for us to give thanks to you, Lord, Almighty God, and with the invocation of your power, to celebrate the feasts of the Virgin Mary. From whose womb flowered the Fruit who\/which has filled us with the gift of angelic bread. What Eve destroyed in disobedience, Mary restored in salvation. The work of the Serpent is opposed to [that] of the Virgin; from the one, poisons of division arose; from the other, the mysteries of the Savior came forth. From the one, the evil deeds of the Tempter showed themselves; from the other, the majesty of the Redeemer assisted us. From the one, offspring came to die; from the other, the Creator arose, by which\/whom human nature, now no longer captive but freed was restored. What Adam lost as ancestor, was regained by Christ its author. Whom, one with you,\u2026.<\/p>\n
The final text we will examine is both doctrinally and poetically impressive. After announcing that the fruit of Mary\u2019s womb in turn feeds us to capacity with the new manna, the text begins with a familiar contrast between Eve and Mary, the former the woman through whom sin entered human history (according to the Yahwist creation account in Genesis) with the latter the woman from whom was born the one who reversed the reign of sin; to be theologically careful, one would read \u201cwhat Eve destroyed in disobedience, Mary restored in [the] salvation [won by her son, Jesus].\u201d (Medieval Latin loved to express this reversal by juxtaposing \u201cEva\u201d [Eve] with its reverse \u201cAve\u201d [as in the \u201cHail, Mary\u201d].) But this Preface text goes beyond the comparison\/contrast of Eve and Mary to the contrast between the work of Satan and that of Mary. Satan\u2019s work leads to poisonous divisions, while Mary\u2019s work leads to unified recognition of the Savior\u2019s activity. Satan\u2019s evil works do not help humanity, while the Redeemer\u2019s power does. Yoking Eve and Satan, the text notes that a consequence of her sin is death for all her and Adam\u2019s progeny, but contrasts this with the life-giving re-constitution of human nature by Christ, since \u201call was created through him and all was created for him\u201d \u2013 he is the template for redeemed humanity.<\/p>\n
May these few reflections on Ambrosian Preface texts inspire us to a deepened appreciation for this season of longing for the Savior who came in history, comes in mystery and will come again in majesty. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
May these few reflections on Ambrosian Preface texts inspire us to a deepened appreciation for this season of longing for the Savior who came in history, comes in mystery and will come again in majesty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,1137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-year","category-teaching-liturgy"],"yoast_head":"\n